During the qualification rounds for the Olympic Javelin throw event, while Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra were going through their throws, an Indian Commentary panel talk went as follows; Tejaswin Shankar said “Arshad Nadeem has the one thing that Neeraj does not; one 90m+ throw.” His broadcast partner, Sunil Taneja decided to cheekily respond with “Neeraj Chopra possesses the one thing which all of Pakistan does not have, an individual Olympic Gold”. Little did they know what awaited just 2 days later in the Olympic Javelin Throw Final.
Before we get to that, it would be remiss of us not to go into how much Arshad Nadeem went through to get to where he is. The man from Mian Channu has gone through quite a journey. In his early years, his brothers were the ones who played the main role in helping him develop.
Shahid, his elder brother stated “He has always been a shy, quiet person who often keeps to himself. We both knew that he liked the sport but never spoke about it publicly. We told him, ‘Do not worry about money. We have jobs. We can support our home”.
Later, Rasheed Ahmed Saqi, a former athlete himself, discovered Arshad at a local event. “It was a local competition I organized where I saw this lanky kid who made quite an impression in track and field games, especially javelin and shot put. I noticed he was strong. He ran well. So I thought, maybe if I can help train him, he could make a difference”, he said.
His current coach, Salman Iqbal Butt is himself a former discus thrower and silver medalist at the SAF Games. Arshad has notably praised Butt for mentoring him like a father would, but the coach says it is all because of Arshad’s mental strength. “He is Zen-like. He is quiet. He is focused, and no matter the setback, he does not let it linger. This is one of the most incredible things about Nadeem, and you cannot really teach it either,” his coach said.
With his father working as a mason to bear costs, Arshad was able to travel to Faisalabad, Multan and Lahore for practice and training. In 2016, he was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship from World Athletics which made him eligible to train at the IAAF High Performance Training Centre in Mauritius.
February 2016 is when we begin proper, with Nadeem bagging the bronze medal at the South Asian Games in Guwahati, India. He followed this up with another bronze at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships In June 2016. Then, a bronze medal at the Islamic Solidarity Games in May 2017, and another bronze at the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. In December 2019, he achieved his first gold medal with an 86.29-meter games record throw at the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal.
Next, The Olympics. It was from here where we first saw how little support he received from the sporting federations, but also needless blame. His father was noted as saying Arshad was not provided with adequate training facilities whatsoever by those in power. He trained for his first Olympics in his own courtyard.
Despite his 5th place finish in the event, which one would argue was a relatively strong Olympic debut, the chief de mission for the Pakistani contingent felt it was necessary to say that Arshad “lost due to excessive social media use”. Marking what would be one of the first moronic treatments of this gem by big men in small offices. Another 5th place would follow at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, but he continued to improve despite all the challenges.
By this point, he had developed a strong kinship with India’s Neeraj Chopra. Their story starts in Guwahati 2016 and has continued to this day. Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem shared the podium several times and participated together in various competitions, along with their first meeting in Guwahati, the two continued to compete together at the 2016 Asian Junior Championships, 2016 World U20 Athletics Championships, 2017 Asian Athletics Championships, 2018 Commonwealth Games, 2018 Asian Games, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships. It was at the 2023 World Athletics Championships where the two would have their most iconic moment, where Neeraj won gold and Arshad bagged silver, leading to an iconic 1-2 South Asian finish.
It was also shocking yet somehow sadly expected when you compared how these two were treated in their own countries. While Neeraj was provided with some of the best facilities and coaching an athlete of his calibre would need, Arshad would often be seen either nursing injuries he suffered due to sheer negligence by the authorities or literally having to plead with the Government for some proper training facilities.
Just a few months ago Arshad Nadeem told the media, “It has now got to a stage where the javelin is damaged, and I have asked the national federation and my coach to do something about it before the Paris Olympics.”
Thankfully the PSL franchise Multan Sultans started supporting him recently, and he was sent to train in South Africa as well. All this culminated in a historic night at Stade De France. Arshad, after fouling on his first attempt, managed a herculean 92.97 meter throw, breaking the Olympic record and eventually claiming gold, ending a 40-year wait. He also managed a throw of 91.79 meters on his final attempt, which now lies second only to his Olympic record among the longest javelin throws in modern Olympic History.
In the end, one would simply like to state that Arshad Nadeem’s historic achievement, while cause for celebration, should also serve as a catalyst for our sporting culture to be improved and a proper system developed so that our athletes can be properly supported so that they are able to bring further glory to Pakistan.
Credits for research on parts of this article go to Abid Hussain’s thread here.
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